That amphora
by strawberriesapples
Summary: No matter where he went, there it was.


That amphora

(Weatherford, 1938)

(a residential street)  
- I have to go, Mrs Johnson! Thank you for the tea!  
- Well, it was my pleasure, Mrs. Nelson! Come whenever you want!  
- Welcome to our neighborhood!  
- Thank you!  
- Anthony, let's go, sweetheart! Anthony?  
- Oh, there he is!  
(he has an object in his hands)  
- Anthony! Put that bottle down! You might break it!  
- Neat bottle!  
- Anthony, no!  
- Bottle! (he's shaking it)  
- Give me that! (She grabs the bottle from her son's hands and gives it back to her neighbor) Here, Mrs Johnson. I'm sorry!  
- OH! Children will be children, Mrs. Nelson!  
- Thank you. Goodbye!  
- Goodbye!

***  
(Bridgeport , 1945)

(at a market)  
- Did we get everything, Anthony?  
- I think so, dad.  
- Cereals, vegetables, meat, milk... I think it's all here.  
- Mom should have come with us.  
- Yes, but if your mother had come, she would not let me get a little something...  
- What?  
- A good bottle of wine!  
(at a wine shop)  
- Here it is. $ 20.  
- Daddy, look! (he points to a shelf)  
- What?  
- There!  
- Wow! Jack, what is that bottle?  
- Honestly, Phil, I don't know. I can't open it.  
- You can't open it?  
- No. We've tried everything and we couldn't!  
- Have you tried... (the boy has the bottle in his hand, trying to open it) Anthony! Put it back!  
- Sorry, Dad!

***  
(New York , 1951)

(a shop at a gas station)  
- It won't work !  
- Of course it will!  
- They'll catch us!  
- Will you shut up, Tony?  
- Stop being pessimistic!  
- Let's get out of here, Roger!  
- Tony, shut up. Bob, Tony and I will get the drinks and you show the man your ID, right?  
- Right!  
- Come on, Tony. Tony? Where are you?  
(he's at the liquor aisle, with a certain bottle in his hands)  
- Tony! What is this?  
- A bottle!  
- You don't say?! It's a bottle of what?  
- I don't know... but isn't it interesting? (his eyes are fixated on the bottle)  
- Leave it there and let's go! We came to buy beer!  
- Okay... (he puts it back)

***

(Cocoa Beach , 1963)

(a desert)  
- Water! Water! I need water...

- For God's sake! I'm going to die here...

- AH! A bottle!

- Hey... this is not just a bottle... it is _that_ bottle! Please open! (he opens the bottle)

- It opened! Huh? Smoke? (Jeannie gets out)  
- Your wish is my command, Master. (she looks at him, shrouded in smoke; he's lying in the middle of the desert; he doesn't know if she's a mirage or if she's real)  
- I... I want... wat... AHHHHHHH !  
- ... (he's in his room, in his bed, drenched in sweat)  
- What kind of dream was that? This fever's killing me!

***

(An island in the South Pacific, 1965)

"Damn it... how long am I going to be stuck on this island? Relax, Nelson, NASA will realize that you didn't come back in time and they'll come after you... meanwhile... finish your SOS message..."

- Done! Hey! It's missing a piece of the S! Where's the bottle... THE BOTTLE! (he takes it in his hand) My God, it's THAT bottle! Well... it's just you and me now. Nobody can stop me from opening you! (it opens and smoke comes out of there, he throws it on the floor and the smoke turns into Jeannie)  
- Your wish is my command, Master. (she looks at him, he rubs his eyes, she walks towards him) Ohhh... (she gives him a kiss, he is terrified)  
- I must have gone further into orbit than I thought!

***

( Cocoa Beach , 1970)

(At the Nelson's house)  
- Heh... (he has the bottle in hand and he's looking at it)  
- Master, you... Master, what are you doing?  
- Remembering.  
- What?  
- Come here, Jeannie. Sit down. (he pats the couch, calling her to sit there with him)  
- Yes? (she sits down)  
- Call me crazy. But I've known you for longer than you've known me.  
- Huh?  
- Well, not you. Your bottle.  
- Really? (she smiles)  
- I've known it since childhood.  
- How?!  
- Everywhere I went, there it was, sort of calling me... the neighbor's house, the museum - which was destroyed by flood - the wine shop, the fortune teller, the market... wherever I went, there it was... I even started dreaming about it! In my last dream, I managed to open it and I think you came out of there!  
- Oh, Master, meeting you was a dream for me too! (hugs him and he hugs her back)  
- No, I'm talking about a real dream, dream!  
- Oh? (she smiles again)  
- And it was way before I met you... But it was confusing, I was high with fever... until that fateful day on the island... I was alone with the bottle... and I managed to open it!  
- ... (she smiles from ear to ear)  
- That was the happiest day of my life so far...  
- Oh, Master! (she gives him a kiss and he kisses her back)  
- Uaaah! I'm off to bed, darling. Are you coming? (he yawns, going to the bedroom)  
- In a minute, Master. (she sits on the couch, holding her bottle thoughtfully)  
- Ok! (he goes to the room and she thinks outloud)  
- Master... I know you certainly do not believe this, but... no other person was meant to open that bottle but you...


End file.
